Magic spiral of 9

And so I've reached the end of my 9th year with Blipfoto today. Who would have thought I'd come this far, I certainly didn't.

Thanks to all who have visited my journal over the years, thanks for all the stars, the comments, the hearts, the friendship and the support. Thanks to the people keeping Blipfoto running since we've become community-owned, and many thanks to Joe Tree for developing this concept and sharing it with us.

9 is a magic number both in mathematics and in mythology and is seen as special in many cultures. In Chinese traditions the number 9 sounds like the word for long-lasting, so it signifies long-lasting luck and longevity and infinity. It was seen as a sacred number associated with dragons and with the Emperor. At first I was going to show you 9 different dragons (see the extra) but in the end I decided to play with the shape of the number, seeing it back in the shape of my nautilus shell. Actually during the development of the shape of the number in the past it did look very similar to a spiral at some time.

9 years ago the world looked a whole lot friendlier than it looks today, it's hard to stay optimistic while the pandemic still rages, the climate situation is well past the critical point and to top it off the boss of the Kremlin seems to have lost all reason. It is beyond scary to see the developments every day and heartbreaking to see the images from Ukraine. But at least in here in the international Blipfoto community there is much unity and support. Seeing how we can stay 'excellent' to and for each other over here should give us hope that peace is possible no matter how many mad men are craving power.

Tomorrow's Abstract Thursday challenge has no theme and the tag will be AT349